Honolulu Zoo captures another missing bird

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A week after vandals cut open bird cages and allowed three exotic birds to escape the aviary, only one of the birds remains missing from the Honolulu Zoo.

On Wednesday, zoo employees used a "mist net" suspended between two tall fishing poles to capture a Buff-Headed Ground Dove, which they lured into the area by putting the dove's mate and daughter in cages near some food.

The dove was in quarantine Thursday night, and will be kept under observation for the next 30 days to make sure it didn't come down with any diseases while it was out of captivity.

Meanwhile, zoo officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the diminishing chances of survival for the escaped "tawny frogmouth" bird, which has not been seen since March 26. The bird was always hand fed by bird keepers.

"We're concerned that this one bird may not be able to survive as well as the other two," said zoo veterinarian Dr. Ben Okimoto. "But we really don't know, because it's so cryptic in its camouflage that it's gonna be hard to find."

Dr. Okimoto says that the zoo has borrowed a pair of night-vision binoculars from the Honolulu Fire Department to try and see if it can locate the bird on zoo grounds.

The third bird escaped bird, a Red Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot, was recovered over the weekend when a couple hiking on the Diamond Head Trail managed to catch it.